Kintsugi (pronounced-keen tau gee) is the Japanese art of golden repair. When growing up, I oftentimes broke a cup or plate while trying to help set the dinner table. If a mechanical thing broke apart, I’d figure out how it worked and put it back together again. In the end, although I was upset I broke something precious, my parents gave me a way to feel proud of my efforts. Many years later, I read about kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken vessels by sealing the cracks with lacquer and carefully dusting them with gold powder. TheJapanese believe the gold cracks make the pieces even more precious and valuable.

I believe the Japanese art of golden repair is a beautiful way to explain to children how to see the broken, difficult and painful parts of our lives as valuable making us strongerand better than before. When we can adopt an attitude of acceptance. allowing things to be just the way theyare instead of hiding them or resisting, then we can grow into our magnificence with all the golden cracks radiating a new kind of beauty. Unfortunately, many kids today demonstrate little capacity for difficulty and discomfort.

When you realize you are energy – a living energetic being – youʼll be more likely to use your energy intentionally before you enter a room, speak a word, write a letter or begin to take action of any kind. If you donʼt believe me, run a little experiment and try this for a week. Become a “Human Sparkler!”

1. Imagine yourself as a bright source of energy. Let that energy come through you in every thought you hold, every work you speak and every deed you do.

2. Set out each morning for a week to uplift others with your upbeat, sparkling energy.

3. Tune into what brings you joy and let it flow, full out!

4. Make a point to smile at other people, especially strangers.

5. Make your friends laugh. But be real about it. Donʼt use sarcasm. Sarcasm weakens you, and your effect wonʼt be positive.

6. Attune yourself to the needs of others. Do something for someone deliberately. It can even be a simple gesture… a wave “hello,” holding the door open for the person behind you. deep listening, or helping set the table.

Relaxation of the mind, body and spirit is essential for everyone. Join me on an Audubon Sanctuary walk of Shinrin-Yoku: Forest Breathing on Saturday, June 27 by tapping into the earth’s energies as a powerful way to recognize the aliveness and interconnectedness of all living things, reinvigorate yourself and release stress.

Children at an early age have the freshness of all their senses and come easily to the the intimacy of the natural world. We have this innate ability but may not always find the time to tune into our great gift.

In my private practice, I use symbolic gestures. This is the method of communicating with our unconscious minds, something we want. In the exercise “seeds of change” I invite children of all ages to imagine planting the seeds of qualities they hope to develop within themselves such as, calmness, courage, and confidence. When they can actually see the seeds take root and spout, the subconscious mind receives the message thereby cultivating inner resources to bring such qualities through in their everyday lives. Try It!

Breathing is natural. It’s given to you the day you’re born. Without breath, you have no life.

But with breath, you have power! Everyone on the planet is given this gift. It’s yours… it’s the gift of life.

You’re breathing all the time, and yet you can forget that you are breathing. You can go through your day without awareness of breath – without awareness of your power. This is the gift, that your breath is a tool.

You have the ability to use your breath with intention. Using the Breath of Intention changes everything. Let me explain…

I once heard a story of a sea captain who sailed around the world using just his breath to fill his sails.

If you have no breath, you cannot sail. If you cannot sail, you cannot move forward. If you want to go anywhere, breathe… breathe deep to give wind to your sails.

Like the sea captain, breathe into your sails with all your might. Breathe with all your intention. Breathe with all your desire, passion and determination. You do this by holding within your mind and heart the picture of where you want to go.

You see? You’re creating all the time, whether you know it or not. So why not create intentionally? Why not use the power of intention, the breath of intention?

When you have no intention, it’s as if you’re lost. Like filling the sails of your boat, but your boat has no rudder, no way to navigate the seas. The rudder is what the captain uses to steer his boat. The rudder determines which direction your boat will sail. Do you understand? Lost intention is like going through your day – your life journey – without anything to give you direction.

Without a rudder, you will only flutter-

Without a sail, you’d surely fail.

With the two together: vision and desire, you can harness the wind and have a way to steer the direction of your boat- your life.

You have the ability to create. You were born with it. So use your Breath of Intention – it’s natural; it’s your nature.

Unless you have a want – a desire – you cannot move forward. Although your desire is invisible, it has energy. Your thinking is the invisible force that fills the sails and moves your boat forward. Your thinking of what you desire and the “feeling good” feeling, the “feeling happy” feeling, about your vision is what moves you forward. It moves you in the direction of your desire.

To activate and energize your desire, use your Breath of Intention. You do this by holding the vision of what you desire as if you already have it. Feeling the happy feeling of having that vision NOW.

Your breath is constant; it’s a gift. Grab hold of it! Too many people lose focus. Know that you can choose differently – it’s all in the rudder. You decide where you want to go. So ask yourself, “What do I want? What do I truly want?”

Remember: Breath is life, and what you decide to do with your life is up to you. No one can breathe for you! Remember: treasures are hidden. But if you look deep enough, you’ll always find a treasure. Just be willing to look; be willing to try. Be willing to uncover the treasure of the love, peace and joy you are. And you’ll never lose your way.

Five Keys to Activate Your Silent Power

Become aware. Without awareness of your inner power and your breath of intention, you can blow as hard as you like, but you’ll only blow yourself in circles. Without a rudder, you go no where fast! Remember to become aware

of the vision you hold – it will move you forward in that direction.

Make an Intention. Make a decision to focus on what you intend to do. Is it exercise more, eat less? Or find the best “feeling good” feeling you can?

Become Fearless. Fear and doubt cancel out the breath of intention. Fear puts holes in your sails! Fear and intention can’t be mixed. If you hold onto your intention, you can access your power. And that intention, that power, has energy

to activate your desire.

Become Responsible. Take responsibility for knowing the truth. The truth is you are love and peace and joy. This gives your vision life. You can hoist your sails and decide what you want. Breathe life into the sails of your intention.

Become A Creator. Be one who knows what they want and use your gift.

Breathe life into your intention by feeling what it will feel like to be where you want to be. Feel the energy of intention. You activate intention with desire

and commitment to never give up on yourself. When you activate commitment, you create more breath, more energy, more power. Then, this silent power in you gives you the feeling as if that which you intend is already done.

Have
you ever noticed the way a humming bird darts from one flower to the
next, barely staying long enough for you to observe this little
creature? Seems the humming

bird
has mastered the art of “kissing
joy”;
it is the practice of the light touch. Touching

but
not holding on or lingering on the sweetness
or the non-sweetness
of life as it navigates it’s
world.

In
my work helping anxious children help themselves calm down, I find it
is their
perception
of the event in their lives that causes most distress. They are not
realizing

they
are the ones who assign meaning to all events.
Here’s
an example: Katie explains, “this
bad thing happened at school—
everyone
keeps looking at me and saying I look sad, am I ok?”

The
essential ingredient for tapping into our inner resources is to
understand we always
have
a choice about how we label the events. Our own mind can heal or hurt
us; awareness is the path in to manage our ocean of emotion.
Awareness is being present without labeling, criticizing, or judging.

The
most common reaction to the good things that happen in life is to try
to hold on,
hold
on tighter, making every effort to have that good stay and to wall
out the bad stuff.

Try
as we may, we don’t
want anything bad to happen to us.; whatever “bad”
is!
And-
if
that bad thing does happen, we’ll
say: ”This
is a very bad, horrible, terrible thing!”

Rather
than, suspending judgement and saying to yourself: “This
is interesting…could be bad, could be good.”

In
the teaching tale, Zen
Shorts: The Farmer’s
Luck,
the story reveals the assumptions
of
what the neighbors call “bad
luck”
or
“good
luck”
turns
out to be the opposite. Through various experiences, the farmer
resists the temptation to agree with his neighbors’
opinions.
For example, his son falls off a horse and breaks his leg, everyone
says, that’s
too bad, bad luck! But, in fact, a few days later when the soldiers
come to their village to take able-bodied young men off to war, his
son is passed over because he has a broken leg!

Can
we be both present to the experiences of our lives while, at the same
time, being non-judgmental, accepting and curious?

Can
we learn to see them, be with the experience without trying to push
it away? Can we allow ourselves to feel difficult feelings, rest in
it and be?

And
if it is a happy, welcomed event, can you learn that ”kissing
joy” as
she flies by is a wonderful way to play with your imagination,
tapping your inner resources in order to be present, notice, enjoy it
but not become attached to it? Kiss it and let it go.

And
then can you practice, with this same awareness, to be present, to
notice when something seems awful? Watching your feelings of sadness
without getting lost in them?

Like
gathering, collecting all life experiences, noticing
the contrast
like the many shades of green in the early Springtime?

Say to yourself: “As I use all my senses to take note and savor, I am present and open to all the feelings in my life.”

The
practice of “kissing
joy” is
an opportunity to become aware of how you can direct your mind to
focus- without judging, without making a strong, negative
opinion; but
rather, just noticing and collecting.

Making
a collecting basket, is a tangible way to practice this idea and
internalize it for yourself and your child. Say to yourself, “Today,
as I am filling my basket with the little things in life—
good
or bad, happy or sad. I am noticing and collecting with awareness,
gentleness and gratitude.”

So fill your basket, as you expand your awareness. Say to yourself; “ I’m feeling the warm breeze on my face or

I’m hearing a song that makes me cry” …

Imagine
putting
it all in your basket for the day.

Throughout
your day, you may want to place in your basket objects like a special
photograph or the penny you found on the ground.

At the end of your day, the contents can be taken out and reflected upon as a form of awareness practice. Be gentle with yourself.

Then
you can begin all over again the next day. Empty out the contents;
let go of the previous day to make room for the new, the
now,
of today.

As
in the ancient mediative tradition, keep your basket empty. When you
do, it becomes a practice of taking in, breathing, watching, and
recognizing the every day passing events–like
”kissing
joy”
lightly, not tightly!

Many people know the mismanagement of stress weakens, not only, our immune system’s ability to fight infection, colds, inflammation, head and stomach aches, but also, causes emotional conditions such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance.

The truth is, not everyone knows that we have an innate ability to combat stress that returns the body to homeostasis or balance. This innate ability actually reverses the stress response.

Stress hormones trigger a chemical response, a kind of rush of energy. This rush of energy called the fight or flight response allows the body to run from danger or stand and fight, as our ancestors did in caveman days when we had to escape the saber-tooth tigers and such!

But today, we don’t have that problem, we have “invisible tigers” which are our thoughts of danger that turn on the stress response and never shut it off! Prolonged, without relief, our body under stress will cause us to experience mind/body symptoms.

It is your thoughts that drive your body’s response to stress. So if you want relief, you have to stay present and not let your thoughts take you for an unnecessary ride. It’s as if your mind has a mind of it’s own. Your thoughts can make you sick. So can your thoughts make you well.

But in order to feel relief, you have to learn how to tame your invisible tigers. Some kids are so used to being unhappy and stressed, they are addicted to their response. They may even think nothing will help.

If you want relief, you have to be willing to try something different, even if it’s unfamiliar. You just have to stay present long enough to change three things:

The thoughts that you are thinking

The behaviors and habits you do

The emotions you’ve memorized and identify as you (like “it’s just the way I am!”)

These three things are your habits. Habits of thinking, behaving and feeling; and the GOOD NEWS is you can change all three!

You see, learning a new skill changes your brain by making new connections. When you try something new you are firing and rewiring your brain. Isn’t that great? You have within you an innate intelligence that can restore your system, like installing a new computer program all you have to do is be willing to learn something new.

When you do, your recovery time shortens; you get out of stress mode quickly. You feel more resilient, confident and calm.

The most common ways to shift gears is listening to music, going outdoors for a hike in the forest. physical rhythmic exercise like running, biking, swimming or rowing. If you’ve done all these you may want help from a professional who will know exactly how to unlock your habits so you can train your brain and get lasting results.

Consider this: while your friends are doing the same things over the weekend, you could be learning to use the power of your mind, improving your outlook and getting ahead of the pack!

Working from the premise that according to years of psychological literature, the unconscious represents information symbolically, therefore it is an appropriate lens through which to view our inner life. Also, applied here is the mind/body research

known as psychoneuroimmunology from which evidence establishes that higher nervous system centers effect astonishing changes in the body functions. Combined the use of

both are a powerful process which helps individuals discover through their own efforts

insight and inner resources to induce self-healing.

II. Learning Objectives:

a to familiarize students with basic theories of mind/body research

b to promote an appreciation of the role of art as a healing process

c to aid students in applying the understanding of the combining these two

modalities in their work with children and adults in educational and health care

settings.

d) to develop a repertoire of skills in mind/body healing techniques combined with

expressive arts therapies

About the Author:

Roxanne Daleo, Ph.D. is a Health Educator with specialized training in relaxation and stress reduction techniques from the Harvard Medical School, Division of Behavioral Medicine. Her expertise is based on over 20 years of experience with chronic and terminally ill, meeting the emotional needs of children and adults using expressive arts therapies both at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Daleo’s doctoral studies took an anthropological, cross-cultural approach in the use of symbols for healing from the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.

Dr. Daleo is best known as creator of the highly acclaimed, MindWorks for Children: Guided Imagery Relaxation Journeys. She continues to design and produce audio-visual programs for patient education, health promotion and expressive arts.

She sits on the Board of Directors for the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) as Co-Chair of Educational Resources Committee.

Program begins January 6, 2019

For more information or to register, please contact DR. ROXANNE directly at

“ …and that’s true love!” said my grandpa… his voice made my mind conjure up the entire scene: I see it as if it were real, mom serving dessert after a big Italian-American feast for Thanksgiving Day, always prepared with love by my parents in what I believed to be our beautiful New Jersey home. But the fact is, it was only my grandfather’s voice coming from an audio cassette player. A tape I nearly tossed in the trash moments before to clear the clutter from my garage. So glad I have this priceless treasure today.

Through “imaging” you mentally “see.” Your brain takes the audio input of a voice and provides

you a “mental picture”. In this case, it pulled out a memory of the past and my brain served up a scene so vivid you relive it as if it were happening in the present. My grandfather’s philosophy about true love were his words of wisdom I’ll treasure forever.

Your brain can also take an idea or visualization to create a future-self. Your brain can be directed using mental imagery which is really a kind of storytelling.

When you add the auditory aspect, such as a voice, you add a person’s energy because your voice is the blueprint of your soul. Listening to the sound of your own voice is a powerful way to imprint and direct your subconscious mind.

Add the background music and the brain automatically enhances the imagery experience as if it were real. The mind makes no distinction between real and imagined information; this is why using guided imagery narrations for relaxation are a powerful form of mind/body medicine.

Scientists are learning how we manipulate and examine pictures of the mind and develop internal states of awareness, resilience and balance.

Many world cultures have been using the power of mental imagery in the form of storytelling.

Let’s look at the Native American culture specifically, they have been using the art of telling stories passed down from one generation to the next as their primary form of wisdom communication. Traditionally, Native Americans transmit by story their mythology, spiritual and historical understandings of themselves and the world in which they live to their children.

Storytelling creates the mental imagery in the minds and hearts of the young, that which elders did not want forgotten. In this way, the elders ensured young would not lose sight of their roots,

important knowledge that would allow them to live in harmony and cooperation with the natural world.

So this Thanksgiving why not try to capture more voices of the elders in your tribe, the seniors in your family. Allow them to pass on their words of wisdom to the children as part of the formal celebration for which we are giving thanks and deep appreciation. In this way, you can be sure

your children and their children have your family’s important knowledge through the beautiful storytelling tradition.

7 Keys to Cultivate Storytelling Family Tradition

1.Give your children and their children a beautiful way to honor their elders by asking questions about their roots, heritage, country of origin and the ways of their people.

2.Use a recording devise to capture and remember forever, the voices of the senior family members and their words of wisdom.

3.Make the bedtime ritual include recounting meaningful memories you made this Thanksgiving holiday (holy day).

4.Create a work of art. Draw, paint, sing a song or dance your newly realized wisdom tradition.

5. Each year collect keepsake photos, images and quotes in a box or a book.

6.Ask your child to express the kind of person they want to become; share the vision of a world they want to see and live in.

7.Have your child record their own voice to express their visions. Speak about appreciation, love and peace. Play this recording before sleep so the subconscious mind can bring good thoughts to every cell in your child’s body.